e Barack Obama took office, scores of suspected al Qaeda leaders and terrorists have been killed in raids or by drone attack. But before the capture of Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, also known as Abu Anas al-Liby, only one other suspected terrorist had been captured and not killed in a U.S.-led counterterrorism operation.

His name was Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, and he was captured in international waters between Yemen and Somalia in the spring of 2011. Warsame was detained aboard a Navy ship for two months before the Obama administration acknowledged the capture. He was eventually transferred to the U.S. district court of New York, where he faces a civil trial. In March the FBI announced that Warsame pleaded guilty to providing material support to al Qaeda’s affiliates in Yemen and Somalia.

At issue is whether a suspected terrorist captured in a foreign country should be given a trial in U.S. courts or face detention and military justice similar to the system established by George W. Bush at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. It has been Obama’s policy since 2009 to close that facility, but Congress has passed a series of measures that have made it impossible either to transfer suspects from Guantanamo to a civil court or to close the prison and relocate it on U.S. soil. Obama has yet to send any new detainees to the Guantanamo Bay prison.

When Warsame was captured, leading Republicans including Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the suspect should be sent to Guantanamo and tried by military commission. It’s no surprise that this time around McKeon was quick with a statement urging the Obama administration to interrogate al-Liby thoroughly before turning him over to the courts.

“This terrorist leader has vast intelligence value that could be key to saving lives in the future,” McKeon said. “I urge the administration to fully exploit this potential before moving al-Liby on to prosecution, rather than follow an arbitrary timeline. This can be done safely and humanely, but it must be done thoroughly.”

So far the administration is not saying where it is holding al-Liby, although it wasreported late Sunday that he was aboard the U.S.S. San Antonio, a U.S. Navy ship. Earlier in the day, Pentagon spokesman George Little said, “He is currently lawfully detained under the law of war in a secure location outside of Libya.”